Jimmy B’s Ale House

Food and service has been good the last two times I have been here. Salads are big so if your hungry and don’t do fried or a lot of carbs then this is the way to go. If your in a big hurry I don’t suggest coming here as everything thing here has a very relaxed feeling. I will be coming here again, nothing to complain about.

Tonight was my first time here. Me and my sisters stopped in for dinner. What a wonderful place. Ken greeted us at the door and was also our waiter. He was fantastic. So friendly, gave us the specials, and gave excellent service. Thursdays they have $ 1 sliders and they are so yummy. Beer is reasonably priced, everything we ordered was great. We will definitely be back.

We went a couple of times when it first opened, and we thought the burgers were quite good, however we went Saturday, and probably won’t go back. There were no more than 15 people in the entire restaurant on what should have been a busy night, that should have been a big clue. Our waitress was very nice, but the service was incredibly slow. My husband’s burger was good, however my entrée was ice cold and I had to send it back. The waitress said they would remake it, but I’m fairly certain that it was stuck in the microwave and replated. My entrée came with onion strings and they went from cold to burnt. Not quite sure how that happened. I couldn’t even eat it, it was so unappetizing. The waitress never re-​checked after the new entrée came. Approximately 15 – 20 minutes later she appeared and asked if we wanted our check. I asked if they could take my food off because it was just bad, and she looked at me like she was quite surprised, but they did remove it. No other attempt was made to improve our experience. I also want to say that I got a general feeling of not quite clean overall (menu had food on it, table wasn’t quite wiped down.) Too bad because a good burger joint would be a welcome addition.

Little disappointed in the food and atmosphere. Looks just like the old place. Beer tasted funny too. Think they need to clean out their lines.

Great burgers and home made chips. Great variety of beers. Lots of TVs to watch the games. The meatball sliders are wonderful and only a dollar on Thursdays. The service is also exceptional. I’ve been here many times and have never been disappointed.

Came for lunch at 1:30 was not greeted in fact I was the only one there, sat at the bar for over 5 minutes not a sole to be seen finally went to the kitchen and asked if they were open!!!
I thought since I was the only one in the restaurant I would get good service! Not likely. Bartender was friendly but seemed to be busy doing stuff??? Took way too long coming back to take an order for food, I almost didn’t order I was hungry which is the only reason I stayed
Ordered the Pretzels turned out to be just pretzel rolls heated up and dried out both the pretzels and lumpy cheese sauce were bland and tasteless. Do owners and operators ever taste their food any more!
Ordered a beer from the list $ 7 it was served in a small brandy glass (I understand craft beer serving portions) probably 5oz so much for perceived value
Reading the menu the owner/​partner said he has been in hospitality for 30 years !!! You would think they would have gotten it by now… all I can say is shame on them for allowing their business to deteriorate.
There was a sewer smell when you walked in which means their cleaning and sanitation practices are questionable which can be exceptionally costly to the business
A manager person showed up after about 40 minutes who seemed to be clueless to what was going on, so much for supervision and training.
When I left the bar there was only one other customers in the place food and service should have been perfect, if this is the best they can do, this restaurant will fail miserably. I am one person or persons that will not be back
I will admit I am a hospitality professional of over 40 yrs and yes my expectations are high, that said these are basic management fails that will slowly kill a business.
Let me know if you need help

The food was excellent. Great quiet atmosphere for a Sunday night of dinning in the Naperville/​Aurora area. I will definitely come back. So should you.
#JimmyBsIsGreat

The food here is good compared to other ale houses, they have unique view on classics like jalapeño poppers which are unbreaded but baked. Chilli soup was actually spicer than the poppers, which suprised me, it had good amount of ingredients and was very thick with meat, large cut vegetables and beans.
Beer selection was interesting and completely different, according to my husband. He tried a couple.
The place got 3 stars only because of service. I asked for no ice I got a full cup of ice. Our waiter forgot the utensils, no forks nothing, we waited over 10 minutes with our food infront of us before he even came to the table, since a bus boy gave us our food. Our party asked multiple times for napkins and never got them. When we finished our food we waited for 20 minutes for him to come, so we could ask for the check, one of the friends started to actually go and find the waiter.
Good food, bad service.

Pretty decent place to go after work. Service was pretty quick, but we got there pretty late with the kitchen closing in about 15 minutes. So I do apologize for that to the staff.
I got the Stuff It burger. It was alright, and I’ve had plenty of burgers.

I originally really liked this place so much. But the last few times I’ve been in here the service has gone way down. Today I ordered soup with my meal. The guy that brought my soup out told me they already had my meal ready and asked if I wanted them to bring it out.
I said «no, because I want to enjoy my soup and the meal will get cold.» Not a minute later my meal gets brought to me by another person.
I was pissed, but figured I would just eat my soup and if I got to the meal and it was cold I’d say something.
The server comes out and asks how everything is. I tell him I’m afraid the meal will be cold. He says that if it is he’ll bring it back. And waits awkwardly until I take a bite.
I say it is a little cold, but I’ll deal with it. He goes and tells his manager. Manger tells him to give me a drink or desert for free, but I’m a restricted diet so I say no.
The manager never even comes out to talk with us and it was dead in there. He could have come himself to tell me that.
And I didn’t order a burger, I ordered steak. $ 40 fir cold beef.

Great atmosphere, the apps were delicious. Had stuffed mushrooms and Cabo egg rolls! Very good!

This place is beautiful. The bar is beautiful, the patio is fantastic and the food is really good. I got the stuffed burger and it was on point my only complaint is that the drinks were a little weak

Second time here. Had a great lunch with my kids. A bit pricy but the burgers are big and taste excellent. Fries are ok nothing special.

I don’t like giving out one star reviews but this place left a bad taste in our mouth. No pun intended there by the way. I’ll start from the beginning. Walked in to be greeted by a very kind and attentive hostess. She was genuinely sweet and we immediately felt welcome. We were told there would be a short wait – no problem. We sat down in front of the fireplace, nice touch especially since it was freezing outside. But the waiting area is entirely too small. Every time someone walks in you’re blasted with freezing wind. And there are like 5 seats in total so I imagine they have a lot of people standing around, crowding the door when things get busy. If they get busy that is.
So eventually we get seated in a booth not far from the bar. Our server comes up and says he’ll be taking care of us. Never looks at us and mumbles so much we both ask each other «what did he say» when he walks away. We order a couple martinis and notice them sitting on the bar. 5 minutes later. Still sitting on the bar. 5 minutes later. Still sitting on the bar. Has anyone seen our server? Oh, there he is. He’s refilling some peoples water glasses over the wall partition separating their booth from a walkway. I’m talkin’ arm dangling down over a 5 foot wall filling the glasses. Looked totally ridiculous and utterly unprofessional. Who is this guy with the faux-​hawk? And how is he a server? Our martinis are delivered and needless to say they are room temperature. My wife sends hers back not only because it is warm, but also because it tastes like the juice from a wet bar rag. He seems not to believe her and reluctantly takes the drink away. I would have sent mine back as well but I choked it down for fear our food would be spat in.
I recall the appetizers being okay but when our food showed up my baked potato was frozen in the middle & other items were cold. Nice. Now we’re the customers that are going to be «complaining about everything». We had lost much of our appetite by then and I decided to just get everything wrapped up and we’d heat it up at home for leftovers. Oh sure, I’ll take some more water as our server poured into my glass from over the wall. Glad to see him do that again. Just then the manager (or who I trust was acting manager) comes walking over and asks us how everything was. I told him, «you know, I’m usually not one to complain but we had a few issues.» I explained the issues with the drinks and that our food was cold. He never apologized. Just blathered out some excuses, oh yes we have been very busy tonight etc. etc. Okay. Well this is a restaurant. You’re supposed to be busy. You’re supposed to thrive on business! Especially when it’s busy! He goes over to a POS machine and our server walks up to him. I can see the manager talking to the server and the server is just shaking his head with a sly grin on his face. Without a doubt in my mind they’re talking about our conversation and how I’m complaining about this and that. So the disgusting drinks and cold food are somehow my fault?
This place straight up sucks. Fire your unprofessional staff and management and try again. We won’t be coming back and if I had to guess no one else will either. This place is destined to go out of business if this is how they run it.

This place was average, at best.
I came here following a movie at the Palms this past weekend — wasn’t sure how the 6:30/7pm dinner rush would be but there was a minimal wait, only a couple ahead of us. During the wait I walked to the bathroom and saw several tables open. Again, our wait was minimal.
Our waitress pretty much followed me to my seat, as I was sitting down and taking my coat off she asked if we wanted anything to drink. I pretty much told her as nice as possible that I JUST SAT DOWN and to give us a minute… I mean, really!!! I’m pretty sure she knew this too. I get some people are a usual «Diet Coke» with my dinner kind of people, but this is an ALE house, therefore I wanted to check out their beer menu. My friend and I both decided on flights — which I believe were $ 9 a piece, the price isn’t on the menu.
We also settled on appetizers only — and of course any of the CUPS on the menu were out… taco cups, etc. so we had to change our mind for something else. We got the pretzels — they were fine, can’t really mess up pretzels. We got the cheeseburger flatbread which was missing something, it was pretty bland, and got cold fast, and potato skins… again, nothing special. Maybe I should have just ordered a meal, I’m not sure but I wasn’t impressed with anything nor did I walk out satisifed.
Our waitress came by with the bill and asked if we wanted a box… didn’t ask if we wanted anything else, a refill, etc. Which was a little annoying too… at least ask? Since she didn’t ask anything ahead of time she had to recalculate the bill based on the groupon I brought in. Not sure if I’d come back to this place since there are MANY other places to go in the area.

This place totally surpassed our expectations. We were expecting a way more casual sports bar atmosphere, but this place is really nice and classy.
I had a great burger here on New Year’s Day. My husband had an excellent chicken sandwich. Both sandwiches were juicy and flavorful. We both had the homefries which were yummy, but would be better if they were crispy. They have a really good beer selection too.
While our server was nice, quick and attentive, he didn’t ask if we wanted another beer or a dessert before bringing us our check. I believe the best customer service happens when you don’t feel like you’re being rushed out of the building, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t intentional.
Nice spot and they’ve been on Groupon lately, so check before you go!

Three main issues after eating here a few times starting with the least important in my opinion to the most important (and why I won’t eat here ever again):
Uniforms and atmosphere: the restaurants décor is lovely. It is upscale, warm and the current owners definitely have the advantage of the previous restaurant owners handing them an A+ in décor. Unfortunately, the new owners completely miss the mark in trying to take an upscale bistro and turn it into a tacky sports bar complete with incredibly cheap looking uniforms — especially on the female servers. The hostess has always set a nice tone with her upscale dress, only be confused when seeing short shorts and a poorly designed t-​shirt on the servers. Minor complaint, but it just doesn’t fit the feel of the building or the seeming high-​end bistromenu.
Execution: some of the food is pretty tasty (sweet potato fries are great when not overcooked), but unfortunately when you ask for medium rare and continually get dry, overcooked and underseasoned burger meat, it doesn’t matter how great the toppings are…
Cleanliness: on our last visit, when I sat down at the table, they had not cleaned the edges of the table or checked the seats. I ended up with a very sticky sleeve full of BBQ sauce that clearly had been sitting there for some time. While the manager and waitress were very apologetic and helped clean me up, when I went to wash up, there wasn’t any hot water in the bathrooms.
*I REPEAT — no hot water for the employees or patrons to wash their hands after using the restroom. I see that as a huge health hazard, and will never eat here again just for that reason alone.*
Get it together, Jimmy B’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if you underdress, overcook and under clean your way out of business.

I found it odd that on a week-​day at lunch hour on this hopping strip of 59 this place was practically empty. Everything about our meal was fine (an assortment of salads, sandwiches and burgers), service was standard, and the dim clubby atmosphere made for a reprieve on a bright afternoon. Maybe people are taking «ale house» literally and only think of it as a bar, or maybe this place is haunted by the ghosts of restaurants past (Boston Blackie’s; the strangely schizo City Island health food burger yoga retreat) and people sense that.
Whatever, it’s worth giving Jimmy B’s a shot.

Craft beer and fancy salad. That’s what Naperville does.
Okay not necessarily, but that’s what Jimmy B’s did for me. My husband and I have been wanting to try this ale house for quite some time now. We came in on a Friday for lunch and decided to sit outside on their patio. I have to say — what a great space! They have TVs outside a bunch of tables and even a couch sitting area that surrounds a fire pit (which I’m sure is awesome on a fall night).
I ordered a Solemn Oath Snaggletooth beer and Jimmy’s Classy Salad in a Silver Bowl (ya know, to average out my brew calories). The salad includes fresh mixed greens, dries cranberries, grilled chicken, blue cheese, apples, walnuts and extra virgin olive oil lemon dressing. Such a delicious choice! And they weren’t kidding, for a beer and burger spot this salad was super fancy (and indeed came in a huge silver bowl). I suggest getting another dressing though. I tried the lemon evoo, but for me it wasn’t enough. I ended up getting a side of raspberry vinegarette which paired perfectly with the salad.
My husband got the Leo Sr. Patty Melt which I assume was really good because he devoured it. I tried some of his sweet potato fries and they’re some of the best I’ve ever had!
Highly suggest checking this place out!

After yet another failed attempt at finding the bf some winter boots, we decided to call it a day and go grab something to eat. After checking out my bookmarks and nothing really sounding good, I suggested Jimmy B’s, as it was on our way home. The bf agreed, and we made our way down god-​awful 59.
We arrive, and it looked like they were busy. As we walk in, I wasn’t even in the door when the hostess looked at us and said «Just two?» Not a «Hello, how many?» or «Hi, welcome to Jimmy B’s!» Clearly, she had a better place to be. She begrudingly shuffled her way to the booth near the back by «the Green Room» (whatever that is) and seated us. Again, no «your server will be right with you» or «enjoy your meal.» This little brat could use some customer service skills.
Shortly after we were seated, our server Carissa (sp?) appeared. She was wonderful; she took our appetizer and drink order right away. We started with the Spinach and Artichoke Dip (surprise, surprise… bf’s choice, of course). For drinks, I decided on Solemn Oath’s Oubliette and the bf had a Rogue Dead Guy ale. She put our order in, and moments later she brought our drinks out.
For an ale house, I thought they’d have a bigger selection. Not to mention the drinks were pretty expensive.
Carissa then asked if we were ready to order. We told her that we were. I chose the Hot Mamasita burger with fries, and the bf went with the Stuff It! burger with fries. The Hot Mamasita is a burger with chorizo, pepperjack cheese, pico de gallo, and chipotle mayo. The Stuff It! had cheddar cheese and bacon stuffed inside it, topped with onion strings. A few minutes after taking our entrée order, the appetizer arrived. As far as Spinach and Artichoke dips go, they all taste about the same to me. It was good, but nothing spectacular. The chips that came with the dip were a bit on the chilly side, though.
Our order arrived about 20 – 25 minutes later. The burgers come on brioche buns. Neither the bf nor I care for them, but we knew that’s how they came ahead of time and ate our food anyway. Or tried to.
The bf’s burger was not stuffed– the bacon and cheese were on top of the burger. Normally that isn’t an issue, but when you order a STUFFED burger, the STUFF should be STUFFED inside. Needless to say, he wasn’t thrilled about his meal. I told him to say something to the waitress but he waived me off and said it’s fine.
My Hot Mamasita was actually pretty damn good. Plenty of spice, cooked to my preference, and flavorful. Again, I wasn’t crazy about the brioche, but it didn’t ruin my meal.
The bf summed it up as «the fries are plain jane and the burger meat is plain.» I enjoyed my burger to some extent. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but certainly not the worst, either. But for $ 10.95, your burger better be damn good!
Some positives– the table was clean, as was much of the restaurant. The busboys quickly removed our appetizer dish, and the lighting was cozy. The décor was a little… odd. I’ve never frequented that place when different establishments were there, but the inside of Jimmy B’s seemed to be a mix of everything. Tons of t.v.s would suggest sports bar. I don’t know what’s going on with the birch trees (currently strung with Christmas lights). The west side dining area made me think of Denny’s. And, as another reviewer mentioned the bedazzled lights over each table. Those were weird. The light itself was nice; the housing, not so much.
We paid, and proceeded towards the exit. I was nearly outside before I heard the hostess say «Have a good night.» At least, I’m guessing that’s what she said. I was already well past the acceptable point of greeting/​well-​wishing customers.
The bf said «this place won’t last; they need to work on their burgers.» I agree they will not last unless they create burgers that are worth $ 10.95 and send their hostess back to Customer Service 101.